The Chicago Bulls did not have Michael Jordan in the 1993 release of NBA Jam. What they did have was a Scottie Pippen who was guaranteed to shoot bricks when it mattered.
Some may have joked that Scottie would never be like Mike but alas there is more to the story.
Jordan did not want his likeness in the game, as was the case with a lot of things MJ. But… the Pippen thing was the work of game designer Mark Turmell who just happened to be a jaded Detroit Pistons fan.
While the Bulls were busy running wild on the NBA, Turmell figured this was his chance to get even reports ESPN the Magazine.
Did Scottie Pippen’s ratings in the game really drop when he played certain teams?
It’s true, but only when the Bulls played the Pistons. If there was a close game and anyone on the Bulls took a last second shot, we wrote special code in the game so that they would average out to be bricks. There was the big competition back in the day between the Pistons and the Bulls, and since I was always a big Pistons fan, that was my opportunity to level the playing field.
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Turmell drops a bunch of other tidbits about the game in the story like a special edition which featured Gary Payton and Jordan on the same team.
Makes you want to pull out the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis and play, doesn’t it?
